Osama bin Laden killed - how a live blogger captured the raid | World news | The Guardian Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden killed - how a live blogger captured the raid Pakistani IT consultant's tweets about a helicopter in Abbottabad swiftly turned into dramatic account of Bin Laden's final minutes Osama bin Laden's last minutes were reported on Twitter by Sohaib Athar, an IT consultant living in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad. Photograph: David Loh/Reuters Monday 2 May 2011 09.02 EDT First published on Monday 2 May 2011 09.02 EDT Close This article is 5 years old After a car accident that nearly killed his wife and five-year-old son, Sohaib Athar exchanged his "big-city life" in Lahore for what he hoped would be a more peaceful pace. The 33-year old Pakistani software consultant chose the small town of Abbottabad. "[I decided to] take a break from the rat race by hiding in the mountains with [my] laptops," he said.

But as Sunday night became Monday morning in northern Pakistan , Athar suddenly found himself at the centre of the biggest news story in the world – and, without quite knowing what he was witnessing, began live blogging the raid on Osama bin Laden's hiding place. Athar reported on his Twitter account – @ReallyVirtual – about a "helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1am (is a rare event). Go away helicopter – before I take out my giant swatter :-/" Moments later, he tweeted that a loud bang had rattled his windows, adding that he hoped it was "not the start of something nasty". It was not the first time Athar had noticed strange goings-on in his neighbourhood: on 10 November, 2010, he saw lots of helicopters and planes over the town. This morning, however, things moved more quickly. "Seems like my giant swatter worked!" he tweeted, attaching a link to an online Pakistan News story reporting that the blast heard near the big military academy of Kakool was rumoured to be a helicopter crash.

But already the online community had begun questioning the official version of events: "The few people online at this time of the night are saying one of the 'copters was not Pakistani," he added, moments later. "Since Taliban (probably) don't have helicopters, and since they're saying it was not 'ours', so must be a complicated situation ... people are saying it was not a technical fault and it was shot down. I heard it CIRCLE 3-4 times above, sounded purposeful ... The gunfight lasted perhaps 4-5 minutes, I heard." After several hours, Athar realised he had witnessed the end of a worldwide manhunt for the man held responsible for orchestrating the September 11 attacks. "I think the helicopter crash in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and the President Obama breaking news address are connected," tweeted Munzir Naqvi, one of Athar's followers. Sure enough, seven hours after Athar's first tweet, Barack Obama announced Bin Laden's death in an operation by US forces where one helicopter was lost.

Athar responded with verve: "Uh oh, there goes the neighborhood :-/" As news of his coup spread and the number of his followers exploded to more than 21,000, Athar found his email inbox, Skype and Twitter accounts flooded by those trying to reach him. His humour turned to exasperation: "Ok, I give up. I can't read all the @ mentions so I'll stop trying ... this is insane ... I have other commitments." With the world's media beating a path to his door, the IT consultant tried to downplay his exclusive: "Can't handle the rush .. I am JUST a tweeter, awake at the time of the crash. Not many twitter users in Abbottabad, these guys are more into Facebook. That's all." Soon he had had enough: "Need to sleep ... Funny, moving to Abbottabad was part of the 'being safe' strategy." And then: "Bin Laden is dead. I didn't kill him.

Please let me sleep now." Osama bin Laden hiding place visited by Taliban - Telegraph Pakistan Osama bin Laden hiding place visited by Taliban Osama bin Laden received visits from Taliban leaders and wealthy Arab supporters while he was hiding out in a fortified compound in a Pakistani garrison town, it has emerged. A still from a bin Laden video released by the US Department of Defense. The al-Qaeda leader was visited in Pakistan by representatives of the Taliban. Photo: AFP By Philip Sherwell in New York and Rob Crilly in Islamabad 7:18PM BST 14 May 2011 The revelation that the al-Qaeda chief had direct contact with his followers - and did not rely solely on messengers - came as a US-led task force urgently trawled captured documents and computer files for terror plots and information about extremists. British intelligence agents last week joined their US counterparts to sift through the material after repeated references to Britain were found in the haul retrieved from bin Laden's compound when US commandos killed him this month. An Afghan Taliban commander, who has previously provided reliable information to foreign media, disclosed that he had visited bin Laden at the compound in Abbottabad.

He said that the Saudi terror chief also received sporadic visits from leaders of his al-Qaeda network, Taliban allies and fellow Arab fundraisers. The disclosure will be crucial for Western intelligence chiefs as they try and assess bin Laden's role in international terror operations. They had initially believed that his contact with the outside world was conducted via messages on computer thumb drives. Related Articles Pakistan drops intelligence sharing with West 14 May 2011 When the commander, who asked not to be named, last saw bin Laden in Abbottabad two years ago, he seemed healthy and well briefed on recent developments, but concerned about his safety and money. Bin Laden confided that he had to continue to meet top aides because so many senior lieutenants had been captured or killed. "He said he had no choice but to be active and meet people, despite the security risks," the Taliban leader said. "He was meeting with other top al Qaeda leaders who could get access to Abbottabad without endangering their safety." The report will once again focus attention on how bin Laden managed to live apparently undetected by the Pakistani authorities for several years less than a mile from the country's top military academy.

The Sunday Telegraph has learned that Britain was one of six countries – along with the US, Canada, Israel, Germany and Spain – identified as a target for terror strikes in the intelligence haul. Officials did not disclose specific plots or threats. As US and European domestic security officials step up counter-terror operations amid concerns of a "lone wolf" or terror cell revenge attacks to avenge bin Laden's killing, Pakistan 's intelligence services have withdrawn co-operation with their American counterparts. Agents with the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) directorate are refusing to share details of suspects or plots in protest at the US operation to kill bin Laden, raising the potential threat of attacks on Western cities. On Saturday the country's parliament condemned the raid, calling for a review of ties with America and warning that Pakistan could cut supply lines to US forces in Afghanistan if there were more such operations. • Three people in the American state of Florida have been charged with providing financing and material support to the Pakistani Taliban, US federal officials said yesterday.

Osama bin Laden killed in US raid on Pakistan hideout | World news | The Guardian Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden killed in US raid on Pakistan hideout 'Justice done' and body buried at sea, says US, after al-Qaida leader is killed by special forces at Abbottabad compound Osama bin Laden was killed by US special forces at a compound in Abbottabad, near the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Photograph: AP Declan Walsh in Abbottabad, Ewen MacAskill in Washington and Jason Burke in New Delhi Monday 2 May 2011 06.47 EDT First published on Monday 2 May 2011 06.47 EDT Close This article is 5 years old Osama bin Laden , mastermind of the 11 September 2001 attacks and the world's most wanted man, has been killed in a US operation in north-western Pakistan, Barack Obama has announced. "Justice has been done," the US president said in a statement that America has been waiting a decade to hear. A US official said Bin Laden had already been buried at sea.

US special forces launched a helicopter-borne assault on a closely guarded compound in Abbottabad, 30 miles north-east of Islamabad, on Sunday night, Obama and US officials said. Bin Laden resisted the attackers and was killed along with three other men in a firefight. The operation lasted 40 minutes. The dead included Bin Laden's most trusted courier, who carried his messages to the outside world, and one of Bin Laden's sons, according to reports. A woman also died, according to some reports. It is not clear whether she was one of Bin Laden's four wives. US forces "took custody" of Bin Laden's body, Obama said in a televised statement from the White House. A US official said Bin Laden had been buried at sea, the AP news agency reported. Senior administration officials said the body would be handled according to Islamic practice and tradition. That practice calls for burial within 24 hours. Pictures on the Pakistani TV station Express 24/7 showed flames rising from what is said to be the site of Bin Laden's last stand: a building surrounded by trees and high walls. There had been years of speculation that Bin Laden was hiding in the remote tribal areas of Pakistan or across the border in Afghanistan.

But the town where he was found, Kakul, lies a short distance from Islamabad and is home to the country's main military training institution, the Pakistan Military Academy. It is several hundred miles from Waziristan, where the CIA drone strike campaign has been concentrated. The fact that Bin Laden was killed in a urban area of Pakistan will raise questions about how the six-foot-four fugitive, one of the most famous faces in the world, managed to survive there for so long. Obama praised Pakistan for its "close counter-terrorism co-operation". But officials said the US was the only country that knew in advance of the operation. An official with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence declined to comment other than to say that it was a "highly sensitive intelligence operation". The dramatic news closes one chapter in the global turmoil sparked by the September 11 attacks on America that killed 3,000 people in 2001. The event triggered the war in Afghanistan, was used as a pretext for the invasion of Iraq and inflicted grievous damage on America's moral authority after the CIA torture of al-Qaida suspects and the detention of more than 700 people at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba.

The death of the Saudi-born fugitive is likely to have a major impact on US foreign policy in south Asia, where almost 100,000 soldiers are fighting in Afghanistan and CIA drones have been pounding al-Qaida targets in north-west Pakistan. "It's a game changer," said a senior western diplomat in Afghanistan. "But just what it will mean is not clear yet." There may be political repercussions at home. Hundreds of people gathered outside the White House before midnight to celebrate, singing The Star-Spangled Banner and chanting "USA, USA". The success that eluded George Bush sharply increases Obama's chances of re-election next year. As a candidate during the 2008 election campaign Obama repeatedly vowed: "We will kill Osama bin Laden." Despite the massive resources America devoted to the "war on terror", as the Bush administration termed it, Bin Laden has remained at large for almost a decade. Obama said more than two years ago that he had ordered the CIA to make the capture or killing of the Saudi-born fugitive its priority.

Obama's big break came last August when the CIA learned of a location where Bin Laden may have been hiding : a tree-lined, high-walled compound near Abbottabad, a town in the foothills of the Himalayas two hours' drive north of Islamabad. In February the CIA confirmed that Bin Laden was hiding in the compound, part-owned by his courier. On closer examination it appeared to be a custom-built hideout. The compound was eight times bigger than neighbouring residences and the walls were between three and six metres high, topped with barbed wire. Access was highly restricted. Although valued at over US$1m, the residence had no phone or internet connection. After numerous conferences with advisers Obama ordered the operation on Sunday night. US officials said two American helicopters were involved but one crashed and had to be blown up. US military bases and embassies around the world have been put on high alert amid fears that al-Qaida might retaliate. Bin Laden's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, remains at liberty. Obama, seeking to avoid an air of triumphalism, adopted a dignified, low-key tone during his announcement.

"Tonight I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama Bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaida and a terrorist who's responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children." He said the death would not mean an end to the violence and predicted al-Qaida would continue to pursue attacks. Bin Laden's death sparked a frenzy of speculation on al-Qaida's future. Experts have debated for many years how important the leader is to the organisation. Some argued that because Bin Laden promoted decentralised fighting, with individuals acting on their own initiative, his death would make little difference. Others insisted Bin Laden and the other top al-Qaida leaders such as al-Zawahiri were crucial to the continued existence of the group. Though Bin Laden was an icon for many, his message of violence had been increasingly rejected across the Islamic world. From around 2005 repeated polls indicated flagging support for him personally and for his organisation.

The events of this spring, which saw popular mobilisation across the Arab world under slogans of democracy and pluralism, have been seen by many analysts as evidence of al-Qaida's increasing marginalisation and the failure to achieve its key strategic aim of radicalising large masses of population to lay the basis for the establishment of a new caliphate – a Muslim state governed only by Islamic law. Many al-Qaeda, Taliban leaders killed in summer | Pakistan - Geo.tv Many al-Qaeda, Taliban leaders killed in summer | In April 2013 Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar died of natural causes LAHORE: It might be a coincidence, but the eventful post-9/11 history shows that like the recently killed Mullah Akhtar Mansour, numerous formidable al-Qaeda or Taliban leaders were either captured or killed on the Pakistan and Afghan soils during the hot summer season stretching between April and October, an exclusive research undertaken by the “Jang Group and Geo Television Network” shows. Interestingly, it was also during the merciless summer months that the death announcements of a couple of much-feared Afghan warlords like Mullah Omar and Jalaluddin Haqqani had suddenly surfaced in Western media.

Mullah Muhammad Omar, the founder and spiritual leader of the Taliban, had reportedly perished owing to natural causes in April 2013 in Afghanistan. He was confirmed dead on July 29, 2015, by the Afghan government and then by Taliban officials. The news of Mullah Omar’s death was first leaked through unnamed sources in Kabul and the Afghan intelligence and government soon after followed in with a confirmation. On July 31, 2015, the BBC had revealed that Jalaluddin Haqqani, the Afghan founder of the militant Haqqani network, had died due to protracted illness at least a year ago. The British media house had stated that Haqqani had died after a long illness and was buried in Afghanistan. The report about Haqqani’s demise had surfaced just two days after the Taliban had acknowledged that its leader, Mullah Omar, was no more. The BBC had reported: “Jalaluddin Haqqani was an Afghan guerrilla leader, who fought Soviet troops that occupied Afghanistan in 1980s. US officials have admitted that at the time, he was a prized asset of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

However, he later allied himself to the Taliban after they took power in Afghanistan in 1996. Haqqani served as a cabinet minister under the Taliban's supreme leader, Mullah Omar.” The al-Qaeda Supremo, Osama bin Laden, was gunned down by US Marines in the picturesque town of Abbottabad on May 2, 2011. On September 15, 2002, another important al-Qaeda operative called Ramzi Binalshibh was arrested in Karachi and handed over to the FBI. A prominent Taliban stalwart Mullah Abdul Razaq was captured by Afghan forces on April 1, 2003 from a rugged mountainous region north of Kandahar. Earlier, Razak’s son Abdul had been killed in September 5, 2002 as he had tried to shoot the then Afghan President Hamid Karzai. In April 2003, Khalid bin Attash or Walid bin Attish, the man believed to have been a prime suspect in the case relating to the October 2000 attack on the American Naval ship “USS Cole” at Aden, was seized in Karachi.

He too was handed over to the US authorities for further probe. Mullah Ghausuddin was killed in a gun battle in Afghanistan’s Zabul province on May 27, 2003. On June 18, 2004, a senior Taliban commander in South Waziristan, Maulvi Nek Muhammad, was hit by US drones in Pakistan. He had links to Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar. On July 30, 2004, after a 14-hour long encounter, a Tanzanian national and a badly-wanted al-Qaeda commander Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani was arrested from the city of Gujrat--to the sheer delight of the American leadership. Wanted by the US for his involvement in the explosions outside the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, Khalfan Ghailani had reportedly escaped to Pakistan immediately after the 1998 explosions. In August 2004, an al-Qaeda computer wizard, known as Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan, was arrested in Lahore. He was believed to have had extensive links with Khalfan Ghailani, who was arrested just days before him.

On May 2, 2005, another senior al-Qaeda stalwart Abu Faraj al-Libi or Mustafa al-Uzayti was arrested by the Pakistani sensitive agencies in Mardan, a town near Peshawar. He was sent to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, having previously been held at some secret location. A Libyan by origin, Libi was believed to be an al-Qaeda's number three at the time of his arrest and the head of the organisation’s network functional in Pakistan. In May 2006, credible US wire agency Associated Press had revealed that a man called Mustafa Setmarian Nasar was captured in a sting operation carried out in the city of Quetta. Quoting a US law enforcement official, the Associated Press had then reported that the dual Syrian-Spanish national was carrying a head money of $5 million. Nasar was reportedly captured in late October 2005. He was wanted in Spain in connection with the 2004 Madrid train bombings. Nasar was initially mentioned by British media as a possible suspected planner in the July 7, 2005, London bombings.

On May 14, 2008, chief of al Qaeda's external network, Abu Sulayman Jazairi, was killed by American forces. Jazairi was a senior trainer, an explosives expert, and an operational commander tasked with planning attacks on the West. On July 28, 2008, Abu Khabab al Masri, was killed. He was chief of al-Qaeda's weapons of mass destruction programme and a master bomb maker. On July 3, 2009, Mufti Noor Wali--a suicide bomber trainer for the Taliban and al-Qaeda--was killed in Pakistan was the American. On August 5, 2009, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Baitullah Mehsud was killed by a US drone while he was staying with his second wife at his father-in-law's house in the Zangar area of South Waziristan. He was Pakistan's most feared militant, accused of scores of suicide bombings and other attacks. In August 2009, another Al-Qaeda strong man, Tohir Yuldashev, was killed in a US predator airs strike, shortly after Baitullah Mehsud’s death.

Yuldashev, an Uzbek by origin, had reportedly lost a leg and arm in the drone missile strike on August 27, 2009, and was rushed to a hospital in Zhob (Balochistan), where he had later succumbed to his injuries. On September 14, 2009, an Uzbek Jihadi leader and a close al-Qaeda ally, Najmuddin Jalolov, was killed. On May 21, 2010, top al-Qaeda leader Mustafa Abu Yazid, had succumbed to his injuries after a US airstrike. Also known and Sheikh Saeed al Masri, Yazid was Al-Qaeda's eminent leader in Afghanistan and top financial official. The May 28, 2010, US air strike in Pakistan had claimed the life of Osama bin Ali bin Abdullah bin Damjan al Dawsari. He was a senior operative and key link to the Taliban in South Waziristan, Pakistan. He had also facilitated operations in Afghanistan. In June 2010, Abu Ahmed, an Al-Qaeda military commander, had died in a US airstrike on Pakistani soil. He had conducted operations in Afghanistan.

On September 14, 2010, an al-Qaeda stalwart, Saifullah Haqqani, was hit by a US missile. He was a Haqqani Network military commander in Afghanistan and a cousin of Siraj Haqqani. On June 3, 2011, another formidable al-Qaeda leader, Ilyas Kashmiri, was taken down by US forces in West Waziristan during a predator air strike. He was one of the most perilous al-Qaeda members, with a large experience as a strategist and as a military commander. Kashmiri was also seen as one of the possible leaders of Al Qaeda to succeed Osama Bin Laden after his death. On August 22, 2011, a senior al-Qaeda commander, Atiyah Abd al Rahman, was killed by American drones. He had served as Osama bin Laden's chief of staff and was a top operational commander. On September 11, 2011, a senior al Qaeda leader and the operations chief for Pakistan, Abu Hafs al Shahri, was fatally hit.

On September 30, 2011, Haleem Ullah, a deputy commander to North Waziristan Taliban leader Hafiz Gul Bahadar, was successfully targeted by the Americans. On October 13, 2011, Abu Miqdad al Masri, was killed. He was a member of al-Qaeda's Shura Majlis and was also involved in al- Qaeda's external operations. It was also on October 13, 2011 that Jan Baz Zadran, Siraj Haqqani's deputy, was taken down by the US forces. On October 14, 2011, a senior al-Qaeda operative, Ahmed Omar Abdul Rahman, was killed by drones. With ties to the Haqqani Network, Rahman was the son of the 'Blind Sheikh,' the spiritual leader of the Egyptian Islamic Group, who is in prison in the US for his involvement in the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center. On April 29, 2012, a known al-Qaeda operative Abu Usman Adil was fatally struck by US drones.

Abu Usman Adil was the leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and was deemed a spearhead the expansion of the group's operations in Afghanistan. On June 4, 2012, Abu Yahya al Libi was killed by US drones too. Abu Yahya was a Libyan citizen and had served as al-Qaeda's chief of staff and senior cleric and ideologue. Similarly, yet another senior Taliban military commander, Mullah Dadullah, was killed by the British and American Special Forces in Afghanistan in the summer of 2012. The August 25, 2012, edition of 'The Guardian' had reported: “A NATO air strike in eastern Afghanistan killed a dozen militants, including a senior leader of the Taliban in Pakistan, the international military coalition has said. The strike in Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province killed Mullah Dadullah, the self-proclaimed Taliban leader in Pakistan's Bajur tribal area that lies across the border.

Dadullah reportedly took over after Bajur's former Pakistani Taliban leader, Maulvi Faqir Mohammed, had fled to Afghanistan to avoid Pakistani Army operations.” —Originally published in The News Abbottabad: Pakistan town where Osama bin Laden was killed - The Washington Post Abbottabad: Pakistan town where Osama bin Laden was killed The inside track on Washington politics. Be the first to know about new stories from PowerPost. Sign up to follow, and we’ll e-mail you free updates as they’re published. You’ll receive free e-mail news updates each time a new story is published. You’re all set! By Mike McPhate By Mike McPhate May 2, 2011 A view of Abbottabad, Pakistan, from the surrounding hills. The city, founded by British military officer James Abbott in 1853 as a military cantonment and summer retreat, is the headquarters of a brigade of the Pakistan Army’s 2nd Division and home to many retired military officials.

Abbott wrote a poem to the city that reads in part : I adored the place from the first sight And was happy that my coming here was right And eight good years here passed very soon And we leave our perhaps on a sunny noon Oh Abbottabad we are leaving you now To your natural beauty do I bow Perhaps your winds sound will never reach my ear My gift for you is a few sad tears I bid you farewell with a heavy heart Never from my mind will your memories thwart Abbottabad’s mild temperatures and picturesque views of the surrounding Sarban hills made it a popular destination for Pakistani tourists looking for relief during the brutally hot summer months. The people of Abbottabad are an ethnically diverse group, most of whom speak the Indo-Aryan language Hindko and are known collectively as the Hindkowans. At one time they practiced Hinduism but most are now Sunni Muslims. Bin Laden managed to go undetected in Abbottabad by hiding in “an extraordinarily unique compound,” that with 12- to 18-foot security walls, the Post’s Philip Rucker, Anne E. Kornblut and Ernesto Londono report.

It wasn’t clear how long the al-Qaeda leader had been holed up there, but officials said they had been eyeing the compound “for months” after receiving a tip in August 2010. The last time the mountainous resort town’s name appeared widely in American news reports was in 2005 when the city was hit hard by the Kashmir earthquake that killed more than 73,000 people across northern Pakistan. Pranksters on Google Maps have located what is presumably bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, rating it with five stars, “Great property to get away from it all. Must See!” Abbottabad - One year after Osama bin Laden - Photos Abbottabad - One year after Osama bin Laden By Photos Email Akhtar Soomro / Reuters Six-year-old Anum, poses for her uncle for a picture while visiting the site of the demolished compound of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad. Osama bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad almost a year ago, on May 2. All photographs captured by Reuters photographer Akhtar Soomro between April 20-23. Slideshow: After the raid: Inside bin Laden's compound Farooq Naeem / AFP - Getty Images U.S.

forces found and killed the al-Qaida leader in the affluent Pakistani town of Abbottabad, where he had been living in a large compound. Launch slideshow On May 1, 2011 Abbottabad, a small town in the Hazara region of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan, gained world attention when President Barack Obama announced the words, "Justice has been done," indicating the death of Osama bin Laden. Reuters photographer Akhtar Soomro travelled to Abbottabad a year after the raid on bin Laden's compound to take pictures of the town and document what had happened to the house where bin Laden was killed. The compound has now been flattened and has found a new lease of life as a cricket pitch, a source of concrete blocks for any villagers with a big enough hammer, and a tourist site where people have their photo taken. --Reuters A combination photograph shows Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on two different dates. The top image was captured on May 5, 2011 after a United States military raid resulted in the death of bin Laden. The bottom image from April 22, 2012 show's bin Laden's compound missing from the skyline.

Yasir, 12, uses a hammer to break a concrete block to scavenge for iron from the demolished compound of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad. A man with an umbrella guides his herd of goats past a boundary wall of the demolished compound of Osama bin Laden, in Abbottabad. Residents offer Friday prayers in an open yard of the Jamia Masjid Mandian in Abbottabad. A man exercises in a gym in Abbottabad. A man pauses while cooking pakoras at a stall in Abbottabad . A man carries a tray with cups and pots to sell tea while crossing a road near a market in Abbottabad. A view of a wholesale vegetable market in Abbottabad.

New details of Osama bin Laden raid revealed in leaked Pakistani intelligence files | Daily Mail Online Next 'There was a knock at the door and then they shot my husband dead': How bin Laden was taken out as told by his relatives at the compound Secretly leaked Pakistani report into historic May 1st raid that killed Osama bin Laden tells his family's story for first time It is revealed that the al-Qaeda chief was shot in the forehead and his face was clear and recognizable He spent his last night with his youngest wife, and the two initially thought the noise from approaching Chinook helicopters was just a rainstorm The terror chief was almost caught shortly after the 9/11 attack, said the wife of one of his guards, when their car was stopped for speeding Bin Laden was in the habit of wearing a cowboy hat in his Abbottabad compound because he thought it would shield him from U.S. drones U.S.-Pakistani Tensions Rise After Bin Laden Raid - The New York Times The New York Times Asia Pacific |Tensions Rise as U.S.

Officials Press Pakistan for Answers Search Continue reading the main story WASHINGTON — Tensions between the American and Pakistani governments intensified sharply on Tuesday as senior Obama administration officials demanded answers to how Osama bin Laden managed to hide in Pakistan , and the Pakistani government issued a defiant statement calling the raid that killed the Al Qaeda leader “an unauthorized unilateral action.” John O. Brennan , the top White House counterterrorism adviser, said there were many questions about how the sprawling compound “was able to be there for so many years with Bin Laden resident there and it didn’t come to the attention of the local authorities.” “We need to understand what sort of support network that Bin Laden might have had in place,” Mr. Brennan said during an interview with ABC on Tuesday. Photo Commuters in Rawalpindi, northern Pakistan, read the morning newspapers on Tuesday announcing the death of Osama Bin Laden during an American raid. Credit Warrick Page for The New York Times The suspicions have intensified efforts by some members of Congress to scale back American aid to Pakistan, or cut it entirely, as lawmakers described Pakistan as a duplicitous ally undeserving of the billions of dollars it receives each year from Washington.

Continue reading the main story Still, Obama administration officials and some members of Congress seemed determined to avoid the kind of break in relations that would jeopardize the counterterrorism network the C.I.A. has carefully constructed over the last few years in Pakistan, and as the administration tries to end the war in Afghanistan, a conflict where Pakistan is a necessary, if difficult, partner. Advertisement Continue reading the main story On Monday, the Obama administration’s special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan landed in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, and delivered what American officials described as a stern message to senior Pakistani military and intelligence leaders. The envoy, Marc Grossman, told them that patience in Congress was wearing thin, officials familiar with the discussions said. Officials in Washington said they hoped to learn far more about the network that Bin Laden tapped for support by examining the trove of computer files and documents that members of the Navy Seals grabbed during Monday’s raid. Photo Marc Grossman, third from right, the administration’s special envoy, met Tuesday with senior officials in Islamabad. Credit T.

Mughal/European Pressphoto Agency Top Pakistani officials have vehemently denied that Islamabad tried to harbor Bin Laden, and American officials said that at this point there was no hard evidence that any Pakistani officials visited the compound in Abbottabad, or had any direct contacts with Bin Laden. Even as they pledged support for the United States’ deeply strained alliance with Pakistan, several top American officials said it was difficult to believe that Bin Laden could have spent years in a town populated by current and former Pakistani military officers — with a Pakistani military academy close by — without the complicity of some in the country’s government. Senator Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat who is chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, acknowledged that she had no evidence that Pakistan’s government knew where Bin Laden was hiding, but said the government had much to answer for. “If they didn’t know, why didn’t they know? Why didn’t they pay more attention to it? Was it just benign indifference, or was it indifference with a motive,” she said. Photo Supporters of the banned Islamic charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa embraced after a funeral prayer for Osama bin Laden in Karachi.

Credit Athar Hussain/Reuters A civilian official in the Pakistani government said he did not know if the Pakistani spy agency, the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence, helped Bin Laden hide or was simply unaware of his presence in Abbottabad. Either way, he said, the successful American raid was an international humiliation for the agency. “I’m not denying the possibility,” the official said, referring to the ISI sheltering Bin Laden. “At worst, it’s that. At best, it’s total incompetence.” Advertisement Continue reading the main story He said he hoped the raid would lead Pakistanis — particularly military and ISI leaders — to recognize the deep credibility problem their county now faces internationally. In his meetings in Islamabad, Mr. Grossman told Pakistani leaders they needed to take steps to stanch the tide of anger in Washington about Pakistan’s behavior, according to Obama administration officials familiar with the meetings. Video TimesCast | A Reclusive Neighbor May 3, 2011 - Carlotta Gall visits Bin Laden's neighborhood and explains how what happened there is creating heightening tensions between the C.I.A. and the I.S.I. By Adam B. Ellick|Ben Solomon on Publish Date May 3, 2011. .

Watch in Times Video » embed In public, Mr. Grossman was more diplomatic, telling reporters in Islamabad on Tuesday that the United States was committed to its alliance with Pakistan and that Pakistan was “determined to curb terrorism.” A senior Pakistani general on Tuesday repeated his government’s formal denials that the military or the ISI knew of Bin Laden’s location. Instead, he acknowledged a major intelligence lapse by the Pakistani police and security forces. “To me, it’s a big embarrassment that the bastard was in this compound near the academy,” said the Pakistani officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Clearly, the U.S. had better intelligence than we did about what was inside that compound.” The general said Pakistan and the United States had cooperated in other counterterrorism operations in the Abbottabad area in recent weeks, notably a C.I.A. tip that led to Pakistan’s recent arrest of Umar Patek, one of the main Indonesian suspects in the 2002 Bali bombing. Video TimesCast | A Culture of Conspiracies The Times's Adam B. Ellick speaks with Pakistani journalist Rabia Mehmood on how Pakistani media is addressing Osama bin Laden's death. By Adam B.

Ellick|Zena Barakat on Publish Date May 3, 2011. . Watch in Times Video » embed The Pakistani government statement went further, saying that the ISI had “been sharing information with C.I.A. and other friendly intelligence agencies” about the Bin Laden compound since 2009. Several American officials said they were puzzled about the statement, pointing out that the C.I.A. did not know about the compound until last August. Advertisement Continue reading the main story The raid has fueled anti-Pakistan sentiment in Congress, yet it is unclear — perhaps even unlikely — that there would be enough support to cut aid to Pakistan. Speaker John A. Boehner, who just returned from a congressional visit to Pakistan and Afghanistan, said that any discussion about cutting aid or decreasing engagement with Pakistan in the aftermath of the Bin Laden strike was premature and that he would strongly oppose any such move. Video embed “We both benefit from having a strong bilateral relationship, and I think we need to use this moment to strengthen the ties between our two countries,” Mr. Boehner told reporters.

“This is not a time to back away from Pakistan.” Senator Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat and majority leader, also expressed reluctance about limiting aid to Pakistan, saying the country has been an anti-terror partner of the United States. “They’ve lost thousands and thousands of their soldiers fighting terrorists,” he said. “Now, this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have more oversight, and I’m willing to do that.” In Brussels on Tuesday, the national intelligence officer for South Asia, Neil H. Joeck, spoke about Pakistan at a closed meeting of ambassadors to NATO. According to people present for his presentation, which was based on a December 2010 National Intelligence Estimate on Pakistan, Mr. Joeck said American officials had little expectation that the Pakistani government would mount a serious campaign to wipe out Al Qaeda or Taliban safe havens in the most contested border areas of the country. “He said there were simply too many ongoing suspicions of the U.S.,” said one foreign official. Steven Lee Myers reported from Washington, and Jane Perlez from Islamabad, Pakistan. Reporting was contributed by Mark Mazzetti, Carl Hulse and Eric Schmitt from Washington; David E. Sanger from Brussels; and David Rohde from New York.

A version of this article appears in print on May 4, 2011, on Page A10 of the New York edition with the headline: Tensions Continue to Rise as U.S. Officials Press Pakistan for Answers. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe

Question: In which Pakistani town was Osama bin Laden captured and killed in May 2011?
Answer: ABBOTTABAD